What’s
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Current "What's New"
News
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Climate Workshop Presentations Online
Presentations from the 33rd Annual Climate Diagnostics & Prediction Workshop/CLIVAR Drought Workshop, which the NDMC co-hosted in Lincoln, NE, Oct. 20-24, 2008, are now online at the Climate Prediction Center.
Publications
Tsegaye Tadesse, Menghestab Haile, Gabriel Senay, Brian Wardlow and Cody Knutson co-authored “The need for integration of drought monitoring tools for proactive food security management in sub-Saharan Africa,” published in Natural Resources Forum 32 (2008), pp. 265-279. Tadesse, Wardlow and Knutson are all with the NDMC. Haile is with the United Nations World Food Programme in Rome, and Senay is with the Earth Resources Observation and Science Center of the U.S. Geological Survey, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The article focused on the need and possibilities for better integrating existing drought monitoring techniques to trigger timely, effective communication and responses that will contribute to food security and sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa.
Calendar: Travel & Presentations
December 1-5, North Platte, NE: The VegDRI Advisory Group will meet.
December 5, Las Vegas, NV: Brian Fuchs will present an overview of NDMC activities and products to the Colorado River Commission.
January 20-22, 2009, Winnipeg, Canada: Donna Woudenberg will talk about drought, the NDMC and the Red River of the North Low-flow Impacts Database Project at the Red River Basin Commission's Annual Meeting.
News
Calendar: Travel & Presentations
November 10-13, Walla Walla and Spokane, WA: The NDMC will give workshops and presentations on VegDRI and the suite of drought management tools under development with sponsorship from the Risk Management Agency.
November 10-14, Tunis, Tunisia: Cody Knutson will be working with staff from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Near East Regional Office to conduct a training workshop on drought planning for representatives of several countries throughout the Near East Region (i.e., North Africa and the Middle East).
November 14, Spokane, WA: Melissa Widhalm will speak to the Washington Association of Wheat Growers Convention on tools for drought management.
November 14-18, Estes Park, CO: Meghan Sittler will present a talk at the Colorado Association of Conservation Districts’ Annual Meeting.
November 17-19, Canberra, Australia: The Bureau of Rural Sciences within Australia’s Department of Agriculture is putting on a major drought workshop, Drought in a Changing Climate, Sharing Management Approaches. The NDMC will be represented by Mike Hayes, Mark Svoboda, and founding director Don Wilhite.
November 24-25, Girona, Spain: Cody Knutson will present a lecture, “Questions that Must Be Addressed to Reduce Drought Risk,” and participate in discussions at the “Water Scarcity and Management under Mediterranean Climate Conference,” sponsored by the Catalan Institute for Water Research.
December 1-5, North Platte, NE: The VegDRI Advisory Group will meet.
December 5, Las Vegas, NV: Brian Fuchs will present an overview of NDMC activities and products to the Colorado River Commission.
DroughtScape - Fall 2008
- Washington (State) Workshops Scheduled for November
- New Drought Monitor Authors Profiled
- NDMC Welcomes New Employees
- Drought Summary and Outlook
- Drought Impact Awareness Growing
- NDMC at Ag Trade Show
Publications
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FOA/NDMC (2008) The Near East Drought Planning Manual: Guidelines for Drought Mitigation and Preparedness Planning, C. L. Knutson (Lead Author), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Regional Office for the Near East (Cairo, Egypt) and the National Drought Mitigation Center (USA). FAO: Rome, Italy, 52 pp.
- FAO/NDMC (2008) A Review of Drought Occurrence, Monitoring, and Planning Activities in the Near East Region, C.L. Knutson (Lead Author), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Regional Office for the Near East (Cairo, Egypt) and the National Drought Mitigation Center (USA). FAO: Rome, Italy, 44 pp.
Calendar: Travel & Presentations
September 17-19, Atlanta: Kelly Smith, NDMC Communications and Drought Resources Specialist, was part of a group assembled by the Centers for Disease Control to provide input on a guidance document for public health practitioners on how to handle drought.
October 1-2, Boulder, CO: Mike Hayes, Mark Svoboda, and Donna Woudenberg will participate in the National Integrated Drought Information System Upper Colorado Pilot kick-off meeting. Woudenberg will present on the NDMC’s low-flow activities for the Upper Colorado in 2009.
October 8-11, Denver, CO: Mike Hayes and Mark Svoboda will be making presentations at the Colorado Governor’s Managing Drought and Climate Risk Conference.
October 15-17, Ottawa, Ontario: The NDMC will be represented at the North American Drought Monitor Forum by Mark Svoboda, Brian Fuchs, and Brian Wardlow.
October 13-17, Lincoln, NE: The NDMC will host visitors from the Czech Republic as well as Stefan Niemeyer from the European Commission’s Institute for Environment and Sustainability in Italy. They’ll be in town for the workshop the following week.
October 20-24, Lincoln, NE: The NDMC will host Mike Brewer and Jason Symonds of NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C., for a NIDIS Portal Development Team meeting.
October 20-24, Lincoln, NE: The NDMC is hosting the 33rd Annual Climate Diagnostics and Prediction and Climate Variability and Prediction workshops of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
October 27-29, 2008, Boulder, CO: Soren Scott, NDMC GIS Developer, will present “An Overview of Drought-Related GIS Datasets and Applications at the National Drought Mitigation Center” at the third National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Workshop in GIS in Weather, Climate and Impacts.
October 28-30, 2008, Arlington, VA: Brian Wardlow will give a talk on drought, vegetation, and remote sensing at the U.S.-Canada Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Bilateral Workshop on Ice and Water.
October 31, Lincoln, NE: Meghan Sittler will present a talk, “Rivers of Green: Challenges, Opportunities and Change within Nebraska’s Environment,” at the “Go Big Red for Green: Nebraska Nurses Summit on Green Healthcare” at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital.
November 10-13, Walla Walla and Spokane, WA: The NDMC will give workshops and presentations on VegDRI and the suite of drought management tools under development with sponsorship from the Risk Management Agency.
November 10-14, Tunis, Tunisia: Cody Knutson will be working with staff from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Near East Regional Office to conduct a training workshop on drought planning for representatives of several countries throughout the Near East Region (i.e., North Africa and the Middle East).
November 14-18, Estes Park, CO: Meghan Sittler will present a talk at the Colorado Association of Conservation Districts’ Annual Meeting.
November 17-19, Canberra, Australia: The Bureau of Rural Sciences within Australia’s Department of Agriculture is putting on a major drought workshop. Mike Hayes, Mark Svoboda, and possibly another staff member from the NDMC will attend.
November 24-25, Girona, Spain: Cody Knutson will present a lecture, “Questions that Must Be Addressed to Reduce Drought Risk,” and participate in discussions at the “Water Scarcity and Management under Mediterranean Climate Conference,” sponsored by the Catalan Institute for Water Research.
December 1-5, North Platte, NE: The VegDRI Advisory Group will meet.
News
Publications
- Knutson, C.L., (2008) Adaptation to Water Stress in the Great Plains. Water Resources IMPACT, Vol. 10(4), pp18-21.
- Knutson, C.L., (2008) The role of water conservation in drought planning. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, Vol. 63(5).
- Wilhite, D.A., and C.L. Knutson (2008) Drought management planning: Conditions for success, Options Mediterraneennes, Series A., No. 80, pp. 141-148.
- Sridhar, V., Hubbard, K.G., You, J., Hunt, E.D. 2008. Development of the soil moisture index to quantify agricultural drought and its user friendliness in severity-area-duration assessment. J. Hydrometeorology, 9, 660-676. (Congratulations to Eric Hunt, NDMC graduate student.)
Calendar: Travel & Presentations
August 11-14, Whistler, British Columbia: Mark Svoboda discussed the Drought Impact Reporter at the American Meteorological Society's Applied Climate meetings.
August 12-14, Lawrence, KS: Donna Woudenberg represented the NDMC at Tribal College Forum VII, “Climate Crises and Water: Nations are Calling for Awakening.”
September 3-5, Norman, OK: During a visit to the Geography Department of the University of Oklahoma, Mike Hayes will present a seminar.
September 5-7, Atlanta: Mark Svoboda will be an invited panelist for the 2008 Society of Professional Journalists convention, on a panel discussing “Our Disappearing Water.”
September 9-11, Grand Island, NE: Stop by the National Drought Mitigation Center’s display at Husker Harvest Days for hands-on experience with drought management tools and games. We’ll be in the newly refurbished University of Nebraska-Lincoln building.
September 9-11, Ames, IA: Mark Svoboda and Mike Hayes will attend the “Growing the Bioeconomy” conference and the following “Corn and Climate” workshop. Hayes will speak on “Drought Probabilities.”
September 14-18, Reno, NV: Brian Fuchs will travel to the Western Regional Climate Center to help new Drought Monitor author Laura Edwards
September 17-19, Norman, OK: Donna Woudenberg will participate in an Advanced WAS*IS (Weather and Society Integrated Studies) Workshop at the Hazardous Weather Testbed. She and others will provide feedback to scientists during early developmental stages of proposed new severe convective storm warning products, and identify means to more actively involve stakeholders.
October 1-2, Boulder, CO: Mike Hayes, Mark Svoboda, and Donna Woudenberg will participate in the National Integrated Drought Information System Upper Colorado Pilot kick-off meeting. Woudenberg will present on the NDMC’s low-flow activities for the Upper Colorado in 2009.
October 5-9, Tunis, Tunisia: Cody Knutson will be working with staff from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Near East Regional Office to conduct a training workshop on drought planning for representatives of several countries throughout the Near East Region (i.e., North Africa and the Middle East).
October 15-17, Ottawa, Ontario: The NDMC will be represented at the North American Drought Monitor Forum by Mark Svoboda, Brian Fuchs, and Brian Wardlow.
October 31, Lincoln, NE: Meghan Sittler will present a talk, “Rivers of Green: Challenges, Opportunities and Change within Nebraska’s Environment,” at the “Go Big Red for Green: Nebraska Nurses Summit on Green Healthcare” at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital.
November 10-13, Walla Walla and Spokane, WA: The NDMC will give workshops and presentations on VegDRI and the suite of drought management tools under development with sponsorship from the Risk Management Agency.
November 14-18, Estes Park, CO: Meghan Sittler will present a talk at the Colorado Association of Conservation Districts’ Annual Meeting.
November 17-19, Canberra, Australia: The Bureau of Rural Sciences within Australia’s Department of Agriculture is putting on a major drought workshop. Mike Hayes, Mark Svoboda, and possibly another staff member from the NDMC will attend.
November 24-25, Girona, Spain: Cody Knutson will present a lecture, “Questions that Must Be Addressed to Reduce Drought Risk,” and participate in discussions at the “Water Scarcity and Management under Mediterranean Climate Conference,” sponsored by the Catalan Institute for Water Research.
December 1-5, North Platte, NE: The VegDRI Advisory Group will meet.
News
Publications
Drs. Tsegaye Tadesse, Brian Wardlow, and Mike Hayes have a chapter called “The Application of Data Mining for Drought Monitoring and Prediction” that is scheduled to be published in July 2008 in the book, Data Mining Applications for Empowering Knowledge Societies, edited by Hakikur Rahman, published by IGI Global of Hershey, PA. The chapter reviews the potential of data mining techniques for drought monitoring and prediction in the U.S. and showcases VegOut as an example of one of those tools. The table of contents, introduction, and abstract are available on-line, and the book can be purchased pre-publication from: http://www.igi-global.com/reference/details.asp?id=7793
Calendar: Travel & Presentations
August 1-9, Taif, Saudi Arabia: Cody Knutson will participate in a workshop sponsored by the National Wildlife Research Centre, making a presentation on drought planning strategies and assisting in developing a drought mitigation strategy for the wildlife reserve.
August 4-6, Sioux Falls, SD: Brian Wardlow, Tsegaye Tadesse, and Karin Callahan will visit the USGS Center for Earth Research Observation Systems for project meetings and to discuss future collaboration.
August 7-15, Boulder, CO: NDMC grad student Melissa Widhalm will attend the WAS*IS Workshop, which is organized each summer by the National Center for Atmospheric Research Societal Impacts Program.
August 18-September 12, Lincoln, NE: Dr. Mirek Trnka, a faculty member at the Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry in Brno, Czech Republic, will visit the NDMC for joint research on drought, climate change, and cropping patterns in the Czech Republic.
August 18, Reston, VA: Mike Hayes and Jess Brown from the EROS Data Center will meet with the U.S. Geological Survey regarding past, current and future collaborations.
August 26-28, Kansas City, KS: Brian Fuchs will be at Operational Climate Services Training at the National Weather Service Training Center.
August 28, Lincoln, NE: The NDMC will meet with visiting scientists from Ethiopia and Tanzania to learn about their research and explore possible collaboration. The visitors are being hosted by Charlie Wortmann from Agronomy.
September 9-11, Grand Island, NE: Stop by the National Drought Mitigation Center’s display at Husker Harvest Days for hands-on experience with drought management tools and games. We’ll be in the newly refurbished University of Nebraska-Lincoln building.
News
Publications
Drs. Tsegaye Tadesse, Brian Wardlow, and Mike Hayes have a chapter called “The Application of Data Mining for Drought Monitoring and Prediction” that is scheduled to be published in July 2008 in the book, Data Mining Applications for Empowering Knowledge Societies, edited by Hakikur Rahman, published by IGI Global of Hershey, PA. The chapter reviews the potential of data mining techniques for drought monitoring and prediction in the U.S. and showcases VegOut as an example of one of those tools. The table of contents, introduction, and abstract are available on-line, and the book can be purchased pre-publication from: http://www.igi-global.com/reference/details.asp?id=7793
Calendar: Travel & Presentations
July 7-10, Burlington, VT: NDMC climatologists Mark Svoboda and Brian Fuchs will present information at the annual American Association of State Climatologists.
July 14, Hastings, ND: Meghan Sittler, NDMC Research & Outreach Specialist, will be at the Natural Resource District Information and Education Annual Meeting to talk about The Waters of Nebraska, the Drought Impact Reporter, and other NDMC efforts of interest to resource management agencies and organizations.
July 24, New Orleans: NDMC Director Mike Hayes will be part of a panel on state preparation for drought at the 2008 Legislative Summit, the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures.
July 26-31, Zaragoza, Spain: Cody Knutson will travel to take part in the International Expo Zaragoza 2008, which will focus on the theme of water and sustainable development. Dr. Knutson will serve as a panelist to answer questions on the impact of climate change and droughts on water demand and the importance of the institutional capacities required to address this issue.
August 1-9, Taif, Saudi Arabia: Cody Knutson will participate in a workshop sponsored by the National Wildlife Research Centre, making a presentation on drought planning strategies and assisting in developing a drought mitigation strategy for the wildlife reserve.
News
Publications
Dr. Cody Knutson of the NDMC has a review in the May 27, 2008 edition of Eos, a weekly newspaper published by the American Geophysical Union, of Methods and Tools for Drought Analysis and Management, edited by Giuseppe Rossi, Teodora Vega, and Brunella Bonaccorso. While the book mainly focuses on research carried out in Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, Knutson found material that was more universally applicable.
Calendar: Travel & Presentations
June 3, North Platte, NE: Project WET practitioners session, 1:30-3 p.m., West Central Research and Extension Center, conducted by Meghan Sittler and Donna Woudenberg of the NDMC, and partners.
June 5, Lincoln, NE: Dr. Donna Woudenberg of the NDMC will give the keynote address at the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department Environmental Leadership Awards. The ceremony will take place at the Champions’ Club at the Unversity of Nebraska-Lincoln.
June 6, Holdrege, NE: Brian Fuchs will make a presentation at the annual Nebraska Soil and Water Conservation meeting.
June 10, Lincoln, NE: The NDMC will welcome visitors from India.
June 11, Lincoln, NE: The NDMC will welcome guests from the Nebraska National Weather Service Forecast Offices in Valley (Omaha) and Hastings.
June 17-19, Kansas City, MO: Several NDMC staff will be moderating stakeholder feedback sessions and otherwise helping with the Status of Drought Early Warning in the U.S. Workshop, sponsored by the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS). For more about NIDIS or the workshop, please visit drought.gov.
June 22-28, Maui and the Big Island, Hawaii: NDMC staff will present workshops on drought mitigation tools for agency representatives and agricultural producers. Online registrations will be accepted until the workshops are full. Staff will also meet with Hawaii state officials about customizing the Drought Impact Reporter for the islands.
June 25-27, Big Sky, MT: Ya Ding will present a paper on “Climate Risks and the Adoption of Conservation Tillage Systems: An Application of Growth Mixture Model” at the Western Agricultural Economics Association annual meeting.
July 7-10, Burlington, VT: NDMC climatologists Mark Svoboda and Brian Fuchs will present information at the annual American Association of State Climatologists.
July 26-31, Zaragoza, Spain: Cody Knutson will travel to take part in the International Expo Zaragoza 2008, which will focus on the theme of water and sustainable development. Dr. Knutson will serve as a panelist to answer questions on the impact of climate change and droughts on water demand and the importance of the institutional capacities required to address this issue.
August 1-9, Taif, Saudi Arabia: Cody Knutson will participate in a workshop sponsored by the National Wildlife Research Centre, making a presentation on drought planning strategies and assisting in developing a drought mitigation strategy for the wildlife reserve.
News
- San Angelo Welcomes the NDMC
- "Discover the Waters of Nebraska" Input Session Pending
- NDMC Contribution to IPCC Findings Highlighted
Publications
Donna Woudenberg, Don Wilhite and Mike Hayes have an article called “Perception of Drought Hazard and Its Sociological Impacts in South-Central Nebraska” in Great Plains Research, Volume 18, No. 1, Spring 2008, pp. 93-102.
Cody Knutson's abstract, "Tribal Drought Planning in the United States: With a Case Study of the Hualapai Tribe," was published in the 2008 Proceedings of the Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, April 15-19, 2008.
Calendar: Travel & Presentations
May 1, Lincoln, NE: Outreach activities at Hartley Elementary Nature Night
May 13, Grand Island, NE: NDMC staff will present Water Banking and Weather to Water at the annual Children’s Groundwater Festival for fourth and fifth graders.
May 13, Lincoln, NE: NDMC staff will lead eighth-grade girls in the Water Banking activity, in cooperation with the Water Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, at Expanding Your Horizons, an annual conference to interest young women in careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
May 19-22, North Platte, NE: Mike Hayes, Cody Knutson, and Donna Woudenberg will be traveling with other University of Nebraska-Lincoln and U.S. Geological Survey scientists for a workshop to discuss the potential impacts of climate change on the Great Plains. The purpose of the workshop is to develop a creative research partnership among UNL, USGS and key regional stakeholders and decision makers to address climate change issues.
May 27-28, Great Falls, MT: At the Montana Hydrology Conference, Brian Fuchs will discuss the National Integrated Drought Information System and the suite of drought decision making tools that the NDMC is developing with sponsorship from USDA’s Risk Management Agency.
May 27-30, Imperial, Curtis, and Alma, NE: Cody Knutson, Donna Woudenberg, Mark Svoboda, Jae Ryu, and Jeff Nothwehr will travel to Imperial, Curtis, and Alma, Nebraska for a series of listening and feedback sessions to learn more about stakeholder drought monitoring and planning information needs. These sessions are part of a NOAA-funded project to create a drought information web portal for the Republican River Basin of Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas.
June 6, Holdrege, NE: Brian Fuchs will make a presentation at the annual Nebraska Soil and Water Conservation meeting.
June 22-28, Maui and Hawaii: NDMC staff will present workshops on drought mitigation tools for agency representatives and agricultural producers.
June 25-27, Big Sky, MT: Ya Ding will present a paper on “Climate Risks and the Adoption of Conservation Tillage Systems: An Application of Growth Mixture Model” at the Western Agricultural Economics Association annual meeting.
July 7-10, Burlington, VT: NDMC climatologists Mark Svoboda and Brian Fuchs will present information at the annual American Association of State Climatologists.
July 26-31, Zaragoza, Spain: Cody Knutson will travel to take part in the International Expo Zaragoza 2008, which will focus on the theme of water and sustainable development. Dr. Knutson will serve as a panelist to answer questions on the impact of climate change and droughts on water demand and the importance of the institutional capacities required to address this issue.
August 1-9, Taif, Saudi Arabia: Cody Knutson will participate in a workshop sponsored by the National Wildlife Research Centre, making a presentation on drought planning strategies and assisting in developing a drought mitigation strategy for the wildlife reserve.
News
Publications
“The Vegetation Drought Response Index (VegDRI): A New Integrated Approach for Monitoring Drought Stress in Vegetation,” by Jesslyn F. Brown, SAIC, Contractor to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Earth Resources Observation and Science Center; Brian D. Wardlow, Tsegaye Tadesse, and Michael J. Hayes of the National Drought Mitigation Center; and Bradley C. Reed, U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff Field Center, in GIScience & Remote Sensing, 2008, 45, No. 1, pp. 16–46.
“Large-area crop mapping using time-series MODIS 250 m NDVI data: An assessment for the U.S. Central Great Plains,” by Brian D. Wardlow, National Drought Mitigation Center, and Stephen L. Egbert, Kansas Applied Remote Sensing Program and Department of Geography, University of Kansas, in Remote Sensing of Environment, 112 (2008) 1096–1116.
Knutson, C.L., S. Jones, M.E. Sittler, M. Higgins, M.D. Svoboda, D.R. Kluck, and D.A. Wilhite (2008) Development of a Low Flow Early Warning System for the NOAA National Weather Service, USA, Stream Ecology and Low Flows, Special Issue of the International Journal of Ecological Economics and Statistics, Vol. 12 (F08), pp. 44-57.
Calendar: Travel & Presentations
March 31-April 10, Lincoln, NE: Dr. Sarah Bruce, a climate impacts scientist from the Australian Bureau of Rural Sciences, will visit the National Drought Mitigation Center to learn about drought planning, monitoring and impacts.
April 16, Boston, MA: Brian Wardlow will present “The Vegetation Drought Response Index (VegDRI) - Zooming in to a Local Scale to Meet the Needs of the Drought Monitoring Community” at the American Association of Geographers conference. Co-authors include Tsegaye Tadesse and Karin Callahan from the NDMC, and Jesslyn F. Brown and Yingxin Gu from the USGS Center for Earth Resources and Observation Science (EROS).
April 17, Lincoln, NE: Dr. Michael J. Hayes, Director of the National Drought Mitigation Center, will participate in a panel discussion on “Climate Change and the Great Plains” at 2 p.m. in UNL’s City Campus Union. He’ll be sharing the limelight with visiting scholar Dr. David Easterling, an internationally recognized expert on climate change; Dr. Sheri Fritz, Willa Cather Professor of Geosciences and Biological Sciences; Dr. Kenneth Hubbard, Director of the High Plains Regional Climate Center; and panel moderator Bob Bolin from University Libraries.
April 17, Boston, MA: Cody Knutson will present a lecture on tribal drought planning in the United States at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers.
April 23-25, San Angelo, TX: The National Drought Mitigation Center is teaming up with Texas A&M to present a Drought Tools Workshop. Parts of Texas are at unusually high risk of fire due to a dry year following a wet year.
April 29-30, Peachtree City, GA: Mike Hayes will be attending the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) Southeast Drought Assessment Pilot Workshop: Developing a Drought Early Warning System in the Apalachicola/Chattahoochee/Flint and the Alabama/Coosa/Tallapoosa River Basins and the Coastal Plains.
May 3-10, Morocco: Mike Hayes and Mark Svoboda will return to Morocco for the next stage of consulting on Morocco’s developing drought plan.
June 25-27, Big Sky, MT: Ya Ding will present a paper on “Climate Risks and the Adoption of Conservation Tillage Systems: An Application of Growth Mixture Model” at the Western Agricultural Economics Association annual meeting.
Upcoming & Recent Conferences and Listening Sessions
June 26, 2008, Hawaii, HI: Hawaiian Drought Workshop presented by NDMC
June 24, 2008, Maui, HI: Hawaiian Drought Workshop presented by NDMC
June 17-19, 2008, Kansas City, MO: Workshop on Status of Drought Early Warning Systems in the U.S. presented by NIDIS and NDMC
April 24, 2008, San Angelo, TX: Drought Planning Tools Workshop presented by NDMC and Texas AgriLife Center of Texas A & M
March 12, 2008, Fort Peck, MT: Drought Monitoring Tools Listening Session presented by NDMC
October 22, 2007, Bismarck, ND: Drought Monitoring Tools Listening Session presented by NDMC
October 10-11, 2007, Portland, OR: Drought Monitor Forum presented by NDMC
News
TreeHugger Endorses Drought Monitor
A March 2 post at TreeHugger, “‘US Drought Monitor’ Provides Weekly Updates on National Water Shortage,” highlighted both the big picture that the map provides and the wealth of data and information available by drilling down and in the archives. TreeHugger calls itself “the leading media outlet dedicated to driving sustainability mainstream.”
As the African proverb goes, “It takes a village to raise a child.” The National Drought Mitigation Center has been developing activities for kids of all ages to help build awareness of water and water supply. We share them at local environmental education events, including, this month:
Publications
Tsegaye Tadesse presented “Identifying time-lag relationships between vegetation condition and climate to produce Vegetation Outlook maps and monitor drought,” co-authored with Brian Wardlow and Jae H. Ryu of the NDMC, at the 88th American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA.
An extended abstract from the National Integrated Drought Information System Remote Sensing Workshop in February is available. The “Vegetation Drought Response Index (VegDRI): A New Drought Monitoring Approach for Vegetation” is coauthored by Brian D. Wardlow and Tsegaye Tadesse of the NDMC, and Jesslyn F. Brown and Yingxin Gu of the US Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center.
Calendar: Travel & Presentations
March 4-7, Chapel Hill, NC: Tsegaye Tadesse will present a poster, “Monitoring and predicting general vegetation condition using climate, satellite, oceanic, and biophysical data,” coauthored with fellow-NDMC researchers Brian Wardlow and Jae Ryu, at the 6th Climate Prediction Applications Science Workshop (CPASW).
March 5, McCook, NE: Cody Knutson, Donna Woudenberg, Jae Ryu, Mark Svoboda, and Sandra Jones will attend the Southwest Nebraska Water Conference to present their project, "Development of a Web-Based Climate and Drought Information Clearinghouse for the Republican River Basin."
March 12, Wolf Point, MT: Donna Woudenberg, Brian Wardlow and Tsegaye Tadesse will hold a listening session on VegDRI and VegOut hosted by the Ft. Peck Tribes (Assiniboine and Sioux) Drought Advisory Committee and the National Weather Service.
March 13, Miles City, MT: Donna Woudenberg will present “Risk Management Beyond the Boundaries” for an Emergency Management Workshop hosted by the National Weather Service.
March 19-20, Lincoln, NE: NDMC staff will present activities we have devised, such as “Water Banking” and “Meteoropoly,” at the earth wellness festival, attended by all fifth-graders in the city.
March 25-26, Lincoln, NE: Dr. Martha Anderson will visit the NDMC to discuss her research on the application of thermal remote sensing and surface energy balance models for large-area mapping of evapotranspiration (ET) and the detection of early-stage drought. She will meet with NDMC remote sensing and drought specialists to explore new applications of remote sensing methods and techniques.
March 29, Lincoln, NE: NDMC staff will conduct hands-on activities for kids at WeatherFest, the family-oriented part of the eighth annual Central Plains Severe Weather Symposium.
March 31-April 10, Lincoln, NE: Dr. Sarah Bruce, a climate impacts scientist from the Australian Bureau of Rural Sciences, will visit the National Drought Mitigation Center to learn about drought planning, monitoring and impacts.
April 23-25, San Angelo, TX: The National Drought Mitigation Center is teaming up with Texas A&M to present a drought-planning workshop. Parts of Texas are at unusually high risk of fire due to a dry year following a wet year.
April 16, Boston, MA: Brian Wardlow will present “The Vegetation Drought Response Index (VegDRI) - Zooming in to a Local Scale to Meet the Needs of the Drought Monitoring Community” at the American Association of Geographers conference. Co-authors include Tsegaye Tadesse and Karin Callahan from the NDMC, and Jesslyn F. Brown and Yingxin Gu from the USGS Center for Earth Resources and Observation Science (EROS).
April 17, Boston, MA: Cody Knutson will present a lecture on tribal drought planning in the United States at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers.
Upcoming & Recent Conferences and Listening Sessions
June 17-19, 2008, Kansas City, MO: Workshop on Status of Drought Early Warning Systems in the U.S. presented by NIDIS and NDMC
April 24, 2008, San Angelo, TX: Drought Planning Tools Workshop presented by NDCM and Texas AgriLife Center of Texas A & M
March 12, 2008, Fort Peck, MT: Drought Monitoring Tools Listening Session presented by NDMC
October 22, 2007, Bismarck, ND: Drought Monitoring Tools Listening Session presented by NDMC
October 10-11, 2007, Portland, OR: Drought Monitor Forum presented by NDMC
News
Calendar: Presentations & Conferences
February 6-7, Boulder, CO: Dr. Brian Wardlow of the NDMC will be an invited speaker at the National Integrated Drought Information System Remote Sensing Workshop, presenting “Vegetation Drought Response Index (VegDRI): A New Drought Monitoring Approach for Vegetation.” An extended abstract will be available after the workshop.
February 12, Lincoln, NE: Brian Fuchs and Cody Knutson will present a lecture on drought and climate change in Nebraska to University of Nebraska-Lincoln honors students who are partnering with the Lower Platte Corridor Alliance to identify and formulate collaborative research projects.
February 12, Reno, NV: Meghan Sittler, NDMC Research & Outreach Specialist, will present an overview and establish collaboration at the National Association of Conservation Districts annual meeting.
March 1-9, Marat, Morocco: Mike Hayes and Mark Svoboda will return to Morocco for further consulting on Morocco’s drought plan.
March 5, McCook, NE: Cody Knutson, Donna Woudenberg, and Jae Ryu will attend the Southwest Nebraska Water Conference to present their project "Development of a Web-Based Climate and Drought Information Clearinghouse for the Republican River Basin."
March 25-26, Lincoln, NE: Dr. Martha Anderson will visit the NDMC to discuss her research on the application of thermal remote sensing and surface energy balance models for large-area mapping of evapotranspiration (ET) and the detection of early-stage drought. She will meet with NDMC remote sensing and drought specialists to explore new applications of remote sensing methods and techniques.
April 17, Boston, MA: Cody Knutson will present a lecture on tribal drought planning in the United States at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers.
News
- NDMC Researchers Present at the American Meteorological Society Meeting
- NDMC and Partners Receive NASA Grants
- U.S. Drought Monitor Shapefiles Archived
- News Graphic Animates Drought, Reservoir Levels
DroughtScape Winter 2008
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Calendar: Presentations & Conferences January 8, Lincoln, NE: NDMC Climatologist Brian Fuchs will talk about Drought Monitoring and the National Drought Mitigation Center for the Southeast Nebraska Kiwanis Club at the Knolls Country Club. January 16, Council Bluffs, Iowa: Mike Hayes will participate in the annual Nebraska Green Expo, co-sponsored by the Nebraska Nursery and Landscape Association and the Nebraska Turfgrass Association. January 16, Lincoln NE: Fuchs will visit Kahoa School to talk to students about what a climatologist is and what we do at the NDMC. January 21-24, New Orleans: NDMC researchers Michael J. Hayes, Mark Svoboda, Don Wilhite and Tsegaye Tadesse will present research at the American Meteorological Society’s annual conference. Please see article above for details. January 31, Beatrice, NE: NDMC Climatologist Brian Fuchs will present at the Ag Expo at Southeast Community College in Beatrice, looking at current Nebraska drought conditions and providing an outlook for the coming year. |
© 2008 National Drought Mitigation Center